2008 Suzuki GSX1300R HayabusaWhen the world's assembled motojournalists learned that the first portion of the planned street ride for Suzuki's new GSX1300R Hayabusa was on one of Spain's autovia highways-where speed laws aren't exactly rigidly enforced-it was only natural for the majority of the group to put the throttle to the stops and find out what the 'Busa was really capable of. After all, talk of 180 crankshaft horsepower at the pre-ride technical briefing had only stoked the curiosity of the group, and many of us felt it was our solemn duty to put the new Suzuki through its paces and report what we found.
To tell you the truth, the 'Busa didn't feel that much more powerful in the first two gears than the then-current literbikes as I accelerated onto the autovia. What grabbed my attention was that the acceleration rush continued just as strongly in third and fourth gears, with no noticeable softening in power all the way to redline. By the time I reached fifth, the cars two lanes over were being spat back at me so furiously that I rolled out of the throttle for sheer self-preservation. And yet, when I rolled back into it once traffic cleared up, the 'Busa simply resumed its headlong rush into the upper triple-digits with nary a whimper. It was as if the laws of aerodynamics didn't really apply to the big Suzuki, especially from my perch in the calm cocoon behind the windscreen. When I popped up from behind it, the windblast was so furious I thought it might tear my head clean off.
My second exposure to the 'Busa's unreal performance came during our top-speed test runs out in the high desert. I told our radar gun-wielding shop foreman I'd do one warm-up run to ensure there were no handling problems, and then let 'er rip. Returning from the warm-up I spied said shop foreman waving his arms frantically and motioning to the radar gun-which, once I stopped beside him, showed three digits: 1, 8 and 9, as in 189 mph! And on a warm-up run! Unfortunately, conditions deteriorated drastically after that first run, so any further tests that day had to be aborted. But subsequent SR tests have seen absolute stock (no gearing, lowering or other tricks) Hayabusas reach the 193-mph mark. And one turbo-kitted testbike, with only minor gear changes, blew through the traps at 204 mph-on pump gas. The Hayabusa's styling was a bit controversial when the bike debuted, but it certainly hasn't turned off the masses in the U.S., where sales numbers have grown steadily over the years. In fact, the U.S. is now the primary market for the Hayabusa, with more than 95 percent of units being sold here. And the bike has done so with very few changes from the original '99 unit, demonstrating a very solid design from the start.
And now a better and brawnier '08-spec Hayabusa? Well, that can only spell trouble for the competition.